A. Objective The objective of Core C is to develop and disseminate experimental and computational technologies that are critical for studying the molecular genetics and genomics of small biological samples, as exemplified by germ cell or pre-implantation embryo samples. We will take two main directions to accomplish this objective: Aim 1. Develop experimental protocols to apply massively parallel RNA-sequencing (RNA-Seq) to discover novel, splice and other 3'UTR variants and their differential roles in development, with a special emphasis on understanding the post-transcriptional regulatory function of 3'UTR variants. Aim 2. Host and disseminate validated experimental protocols, computational tools and annotated RNA-Seq data sets to make next-generation sequencing, single-cell analysis, and microfluidics techniques accessible to the Reproductive Biology, SCCPRIR, and broader scientific communities.